Plumbing Repair and Sewer Hookups for Southlake Homeowners

Plumber feeding a drum machine cable into a floor drain

Southlake’s plumbing is its own kind of work. The ground is sandier than in the cities around it, parts of the city still run on septic systems, and the city requires every backflow prevention assembly to be tested once a year. Our licensed plumbers find leaks, connect homes to city sewer, and handle the everyday plumbing of a Southlake house, with a flat price before any work begins. Call us at 817-290-3373, day or night. Across Fort Worth, our plumbing services run from water heaters to repiping.

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Southlake's Ground Is Different

Southlake’s ground changes from one street to the next. On October 24, 2026 we checked 32 points spread across the city against the USDA soil survey. Nineteen sit on soils the survey rates high shrink-swell for a house on a concrete slab, mostly Rader, Crosstell and Birome. Eleven sit on sandy Gasil and Silstid soils that carry no such rating, and two sit on creek-bottom soil the survey lists as frequently flooded. Expansive clay shifts foundations and stresses the pipes under a slab, a risk the survey does not assign to those sandy soils. So when a Southlake water bill jumps, we never guess which ground the house sits on: we find the leak first with electronic and acoustic detection, then price the repair. Plumbing is one of three trades we bring to Southlake homes, with heating, cooling and electrical rounding out our Southlake HVAC, plumbing & electrical work.

Astar plumber opening a bathroom vanity cabinet next to a tool bag

Southlake's Annual Backflow Test

Backflow prevention assemblies degrade over time, so Southlake requires every assembly to be tested once a year by a certified tester. The city’s code makes the property owner responsible for installing, testing and repairing the assemblies on their property, paying for it, and keeping the records for at least three years. The city’s 2026 fee schedule lists a backflow device registration of $20 per device, per year. If you get a letter saying an assembly has not been tested in the last year, the city lets you search its records, and testers must register with VEPO, the city’s reporting partner. Burst pipe or no water at all? Reach our 24/7 emergency plumbing services at any hour.

Astar technician shaking hands with a homeowner outside a stone house

How to Check for a Leak

Southlake’s water utility gives homeowners a few simple checks:

Your EyeOnWater account. The city offers a free account that shows hourly water use and sends leak alerts. In a colder month, a family of four using more than 12,000 gallons may have a leak.
The two-hour meter test. Read the meter, use no water for two hours, and read it again. If the reading changed at all, you probably have a leak.
The toilet test. A dye tablet in the tank shows a leaking flapper if color reaches the bowl.

If those point to a leak you cannot find, that is where we come in. The city also notes that minor household leaks waste more than a trillion gallons a year across U.S. homes, which is why the EPA’s WaterSense program urges regular checks of fixtures and irrigation.

Water Leak Detection Repiping

Everyday Plumbing Questions From Southlake Homeowners

A leak on the city's side or yours

Southlake’s utility crews repair water mains, replace meters and investigate possible leaks on the city’s system. A leak between the meter and the house, or inside it, is the homeowner’s to fix, and that is plumbing work we do.

Grease in the kitchen line

Southlake’s fats, oils and grease program asks residents to let grease cool, pour it into a disposable container and throw it away, and to wipe greasy dishes before washing. The city also points out that a garbage disposal does not keep grease out of the plumbing.

Irrigation on the right days

Southlake allows automatic irrigation twice a week, even addresses on Wednesday and Saturday and odd addresses on Thursday and Sunday, and only between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. Homes on a private water well are exempt, with a posted sign. If a leak is in the irrigation supply line, our licensed plumbers can fix it.

Water quality questions

Southlake Water Utilities serves more than 11,300 accounts through 302 miles of pipe, and its own crews investigate possible leaks on the city’s side of the meter. Southlake’s water comes from the City of Fort Worth, and the city tests 30 homes a year for lead and copper under a TCEQ-approved program, with results below action levels. If the water from one tap looks wrong, we can check whether the cause is in your own plumbing.

Moving From Septic to City Sewer

Southlake publishes a step-by-step guide for homeowners converting an aging septic system to city sewer. The steps are:

Call Public Works Operations to confirm that city sewer is available at your property line.
Contract with a licensed plumber, who pulls the plumbing permit ($100 on the city’s list) and makes the connection.
Abandon the existing septic system.
Contact Tarrant County Public Health, which regulates septic systems.

If sewer is not available on your street, the city takes written requests for future neighborhood sewer projects, which need a petition signed by a majority of the property owners. Step 2 is the part a licensed plumber does, and it is work we do.

Water Heaters and Southlake’s Plumbing Code

Southlake builds plumbing to the 2021 International Plumbing Code, adopted by Ordinance No. 1250, and the 2021 International Residential Code, adopted by Ordinance No. 1252, each with local amendments and in force since May 1, 2022. A water heater replacement is one of the residential jobs the city can inspect from photos instead of a visit. The photos go to the city as one PDF, and the list covers:

the whole heater and its location clearances

the vent tie-in at the top of the heater, and the vent at the roof for clearance

the gas line connection with its sediment trap

for a tankless unit, the manufacturer’s installation manual

for an electric heater, the electrical connection and the breaker size

For the heater itself, we do tank and tankless water heater replacement and repairs. A leak that keeps coming back under the same slab can make repiping the house the better value than another spot repair. When an electric water heater’s circuit or breaker is at fault, our Southlake electricians take it from there.

Slab Leak Detection Drain and Sewer

Astar technician with a tablet talking with a homeowner in the entry hall

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Call Public Works Operations at 817-748-8082 for a site visit to confirm sewer is available, hire a licensed plumber for the $100 plumbing permit and the connection, abandon the septic system, and contact Tarrant County Public Health. The city also lists a $1,700 sewer tap fee and a wastewater impact fee of $1,000 to $1,674.63.

Yes. Southlake’s photo inspection list for a water heater asks for a picture of the gas line connection with its sediment trap.

It can. Most Southlake homes (72 percent) heat with utility gas, though a tankless unit may still need a gas line or electrical upgrade, which we quote before any work. For a tankless install, the city’s photo inspection asks for the manufacturer’s installation manual.

The 2021 International Plumbing Code (Ordinance No. 1250) and the 2021 International Residential Code (Ordinance No. 1252), with Southlake’s local amendments, since May 1, 2022.

Yes, every technician is background-checked, and our plumbing team is licensed and insured (license M-46192).

Licensed Plumbing in Southlake, Texas

Southlake's Ground Is Different

Southlake's Annual Backflow Test

How to Check for a Leak